LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – An incoming wind event that officials said is expected to have the driest humidity levels and the strongest winds of the wildfire season thus far could result in Pacific Gas and Electric turning off the power to portions of 38 counties on Sunday.
The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning across a large swath of Northern and Central California.
In Lake County, the red flag warning will be in effect from 11 a.m. Sunday until 5 a.m. Tuesday.
The agency also has issued a wind advisory that’s active from 5 p.m. Sunday through 11 a.m. Monday, and a freeze watch from midnight on Monday to 9 a.m. that day.
PG&E said as of early Sunday morning that shutoffs are likely, and that 26,227 Lake County customers – including 2,047 in the Medical Baseline program – are included in the potential outage area. That’s down from 31,590 county customers that initially were expected to be impacted.
The local shutoffs are tentatively scheduled to occur between 4 and 6 p.m. Sunday.
In Lakeport, where 1,228 customers are expected to be included if the shutoff occurs, city officials said they have deployed generators to critical water and wastewater facilities to ensure continued operation of these systems during the expected outage.
Customers can look up their address online to find out if their location is being monitored for the potential safety shutoff, and find the full list of affected counties, cities and communities here.
PG&E said its Emergency Operations Center, Meteorology team and Wildfire Safety Operations Center are working together and tracking the wind event.
The National Weather Service’s specific forecast for Lake County said winds are expected to be up to the mid-40s on Sunday and in the high 30s on Monday.
If PG&E goes forward with the shutoff, it said it will open seven community resources centers in Lake County. The centers will be open from 3 to 10 p.m. Sunday.
At the centers, community members will be able to get snacks and water, charge devices, use wifi, and have access to an ADA-accessible restroom and washing station.
The centers will be located at the following locations:
– Clearlake Senior Community Center, 3245 Bowers Ave., Clearlake.
– Mountain High Coffee, 16295 Highway 175, Cobb.
– Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians Red Hills Property, 7130 Red Hills Road, Kelseyville.
– Konocti Vista Casino, 2755 Mission Rancheria Road, Lakeport.
– Twin Pine Casino and Hotel, 22223 Highway 29, Middletown.
– Community Baptist Church, 2877 State Highway 20, Nice.
– Upper Lake Middle School, 725 Old Lucerne Road.
While there is still uncertainty regarding the strength and timing of this weather wind event, PG&E said high fire-risk conditions are expected to arrive Sunday morning and to subside Monday morning in most impacted areas, with windy conditions lingering in some regions through early Tuesday.
Once the all-clear is called, PG&E said it will begin patrol of the de-energized lines to assess whether they were damaged during the wind event.
PG&E said it will safely restore power as quickly as possible, with the goal of restoring most customers within 12 daylight hours, based on current weather conditions.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.